I’ve been fascinated by Greek mythology since I was a child, both by the tumultuous familial relationships that make for inane amounts of drama and by the beautifully tender and intense works of art they inspired. Perhaps most entrancing is how the stories are woven so complexly together, oftentimes relying on a wide gray area of morals where no one is entirely right or wrong and requiring the reader to be critical of the ethics of a situation or character. The myths themselves have been adapted countless times and in countless different ways, but have historically focused on the idea of the “Greek male hero.” In fact, the women in these myths were often actively demeaned, punished, and exploited for the actions of men. For my thesis, I wanted to bring attention to these women and examine the ways that our perception of them is influenced by the sexist ways they were written about. This incited the creation of “Kalon Kakon” (meaning “beautiful evil”): a 24 page visual essay which explores how misogyny colors the stories of 12 women in Greek mythology and recontextualizes their narratives in a way that removes the lens of oppression and reinstates their autonomy and power.  

The 12 women I have chosen are: Pandora, Medusa, Iris, Andromeda, Clytemnestra, Callisto, Deianira, Macaria, Eris, Polyxena, Eurydice, and Hebe. This includes a mix of humans, monsters, and goddesses, as well as assorted motivations, examples being revenge, sacrifice, and general autonomy. Most importantly, I seek to empower these women not by changing their stories, but by removing the patriarchal lens through which their stories were originally told.